The Critique

Recently I had the good fortune of visiting the Caculo Mall with my family. It’s been two months since my last visit and I was taken up with the new look that the mall has been given thanks to Christmas. The tall Christmas tree in the lobby makes for a beautiful photo besides drawing your immediate attention. The shops are all decorated and given a festive look. Some shops have gone a step further by painting Christmas symbols on their doors. Something worth looking out for are the cribs that adorn the first and second floors. The gamezone has been given a complete makeover. Games have been shifted and a few new ones have been introduced. It remains a fun place to hang out and enjoy yourself especially if you have younger companions like I did (my brothers and sisters). For me the only worthwhile thing at the mall is the gamezone for the other branded clothes and apparel shops are beyond a humble man’s budget. Even the food court requires a large wallet to patronize it. Cac

Dir: Nitesh Tiwari Starring: Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sheikh, Zaira Wasim,Sanya Malhotra, Suhani Bhatnagar Dur: 2 hrs 30 mins Rating: 9.5/10 It’s been quite a while since I have been to a theatre to watch a film and Dangal, without doubt rates as the best film I have seen in theatre in the past year. It would perhaps even be the best Bollywood film I have seen in a long time. Everything about it is fantastic. It stands far above Sultan  in terms of story as well as performance. Even wrestling is given a better show in this film. Dangal (which translates as Wrestle) is the story of Mahavir Singh (Aamir Khan) of Haryana. Although the focus ought to be Geeta (Fatima Sheikh plays the older Geeta while Zaira Wasim plays the young Geeta) his super-achieving daughter, the story for me is about him and his mad passion to bring glory to India through sport. Now this is a rare passion but it permeates the storyline and becomes the spirit of the film. The story

Dir: Brett Ratner Starring: Dwayne Johnson Dur: 1 hr 38 mins  Rating: 2/10 PG: Foul language and lots of gory action This was perhaps the worst rendition of the Hercules legend I have ever come across. At first I enjoyed the different perspective it offered but as the film progressed my interest gradually lowered and finally fizzled out. Overall the film was a forgettable one. Dwayne Johnson plays the lead character and brings to the screen all the brawn you would associate with Hercules. However the story is incredibly twisted and portrays Hercules as a mere mortal with supernatural aura and little else. The film isn’t appealing either in set or in story and so doesn’t make for good entertainment. To add to the list of what went wrong was the unnecessary introduction of foul language. I confess that I was disappointed with the film and especially with Dwayne Johnson. It’s not that he does a bad job in fact he tries his best to resurrect the otherwise dead film.

A mind-blowing concept. The task is to find clues and unlock secrets finally culminating in the great escape. Within an hour, the team must crack the mysterious clues and uncover the numbers that open combination locks which conceal further clues and cryptic messages. The setup is fantastic and gives more than a 3D feel to the game. The best part is, the game is interactive: It requires you to move around in the limited space and use brain and body in a coordinated manner. Lately an offer has been announced of Rs 150 per head for a game if played between 10am and 2pm. The price otherwise is Rs 300, so the offer is pretty interesting. The game is really fun and if played with friends it’s all the more exciting. The supervisors are cordial and ease you into comfort. The offer is really worth it. The game is also very interesting, although I think Rs 300 is a bit too much. Nevertheless, considering the setup and props, the owners do have to recover quite a bit of money. Some